In one aspect, Kirby Dean thought his Eastern Mennonite men鈥檚 basketball squad almost resembled the Golden State Warriors too much Wednesday night.
鈥淭he biggest thing that happened out there tonight was 鈥� and you can see it in the box score 鈥� nobody cared who scored. As long as 91短视频 scored, we were happy,鈥� Dean said. 鈥淭here were a couple times we almost over-passed. We looked like Golden State throwing it around. It鈥檚 almost too many passes, but the last thing I鈥檒l do is complain about sharing the ball too much because I think that鈥檚 a good thing.鈥�
Dean鈥檚 list of complaints wasn鈥檛 very lengthy at all after the Royals鈥� 87-60 victory at Yoder Arena over their neighboring Old Dominion Athletic Conference rival, Bridgewater.
91短视频 (7-5, 1-2 ODAC) eclipsed 80 points for the eighth time this season, tormenting the Eagles (5-7, 2-1) 19-2 off turnovers, 31-15 in transition and 42-28 in the paint.
鈥淚 really felt as good about this game as any game in a long time, and it鈥檚 not because I don鈥檛 think Bridgewater鈥檚 good because I do think they鈥檙e good. I just felt that good about what we had been doing.鈥� said Dean, who improved to 16-14 against BC in his 14 seasons as 91短视频鈥檚 coach. 鈥淲e took everything we talked about and worked on and we took it right between the lines and made it happen.鈥�
91短视频 was led by Isaiah Harris-Winn鈥檚 13 points, RaShawn Latimer鈥檚 12 points and Xavier McCants鈥� 10 points while Jerome Jones added eight points and a team-leading 10 rebounds and four assists.
For the Eagles, who lost their third straight contest, Wednesday was a continuation of the struggles that haunted them in the tail end of their non-conference schedule.
鈥淲e came out and didn鈥檛 really do anything that we talked about trying to execute in terms of the game plan,鈥� second-year Bridgewater coach Shawn Postiglione said. 鈥淚 wish I had an explanation. I鈥檓 just really, really, extremely embarrassed and disappointed in what we put out tonight because we鈥檙e capable of a lot better than that.鈥�
Bridgewater has still dominated the all-time series with 91短视频 78-35, but Eastern Mennonite has now won 13 of the last 17 matchups. Wednesday鈥檚 27-point margin was the biggest 91短视频 win over BC since a 31-point decision in January 2012.
Both coaches used the phrase 鈥減erfect storm鈥� to describe how the circumstances led to the outcome in their first meeting in 2016-17.
For Dean, his Royals connected on shots right from the start of the game 鈥� racing out to a 10-0 lead in the game鈥檚 first 2:04 鈥� to put Bridgewater in an uphill battle in which 91短视频 could dictate the style of play.
Postiglione pointed to his team鈥檚 poor transition defense, inability to finish makeable shots, and his key players going 鈥淢.I.A.,鈥� which strains his young roster.
鈥淲hen you don鈥檛 have it clicking on either end, this is the result that you get against a good team,鈥� Postiglione said.
Dean said his Royals, who hit 42.9 percent of their 3s Wednesday, are riding momentum they built with a Dec. 21 win at Ferrum and gained confidence from their 82-65 exhibition loss on Dec. 28 to James Madison, in which the score was tied at halftime.
鈥淲e just got it going tonight,鈥� Dean said, adding that 91短视频鈥檚 defensive intensity was as good as it鈥檚 been all season.
91短视频 freshman forward Josh Good, who was the Shenandoah District Player of the Year last season for Luray High School, added seven points and five rebounds. Sophomore guard Khalil Davis, a Spotswood product, finished with six points and three rebounds and dished out two assists in the first 1:06 to spring the Royals to their early lead.
BC sophomore wing Kevin Saylor, playing against his former Spotswood teammate Davis, led the Eagles with 16 points, four 3-pointers and six rebounds while adding four assists.
Eastern Mennonite continues its ODAC slate by traveling to Lynchburg for a 2 p.m. tilt Saturday. Bridgewater will return home to face Randolph-Macon on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
鈥淚f getting beat like this doesn鈥檛 make you fight harder and get more determined, then we have the wrong guys,鈥� Postiglione said. 鈥淲e have a big home game on Saturday, so practice is going to be pretty intense and pretty competitive tomorrow; they鈥檙e not gonna have a choice in that. Hopefully we have enough guys that can find it within themselves to get angry at this result and then do something about it. We鈥檝e got to see what we鈥檙e made of on Saturday.鈥�
Reprinted from Jan. 5, 2017, Daily News-Record.